Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS General Essentials · 2026-08-20

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries, people do not recycle their rubbish as much as they could.

Why do you think this is?

What can be done to change this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 6.5)

In the current fast paced living culture people are neglecting a very important responsibility that is the proper disposal of their waste, which causes a very horrifying damage to nature. I believe most of the environment issues are caused by not properly recycling the waste. Throwing every waste, be it plastic, cardboard or organic waste in the same garbage bin is a major factor for contributing causing harm to the environment.

I believe citizens do not cause this problem purposely . The problem is lack of knowledge on how to properly manage the household waste is the main culprit here. To rectify this lack of information on how to manage garbage, the government should start social awareness programs where they properly show how to handle different type of waste and ways to recycle them. And to make it affective various reward systems should be started, for example in Germany if you purchase any product which is a plastic bottle and after using if one brings it to an recycle machine and throw it there they provide 0.50 euros for each piece. By creating this type of system they are not only separating plastic waste which can be recycled and used again reducing non biodegradable waste in nature but also encouraging its people to follow a proper recycling their rubbish.

Nothing can be changed overnight but today we have a strong social media presence, so a large social media campaign about recycling waste should be initiated by proper regulation bodies and by adapting reward systems like Germany and other countries can be a good starting point for the respective countries government, which want to improve their current waste management done by public.

In conclusion, we can definitely improve how people can manage their day-to-day waste by ensuring that governing bodies of the respective countries take initiative of spreading information on waste recycle and how important it is to follow this responsibility to properly dispose the rubbish as much as possible.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The response addresses both parts of the prompt: reasons for low recycling rates and potential solutions. The position is clear throughout. The ideas are relevant, such as the lack of knowledge and the suggestion of reward systems. However, the development is somewhat limited; the explanation of why people do not recycle could be more nuanced, and the solutions could be expanded with more detail on how social media campaigns would specifically function. While the response covers all parts of the task, the depth of analysis is more characteristic of a Band 6.5 or 7.0, as some points are stated rather than fully explored.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.5

The essay is logically organized into paragraphs, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. The progression of ideas is generally easy to follow. However, the use of cohesive devices is sometimes mechanical or repetitive, such as the frequent use of 'and' to start sentences or connect clauses. Referencing is generally clear, but the flow between sentences could be improved by using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'consequently', 'furthermore', 'in contrast'). Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate the problem from the solutions.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

The vocabulary is adequate for the task, allowing the writer to express their ideas clearly. There are some attempts at less common vocabulary, such as 'rectify', 'culprit', and 'non-biodegradable', which is positive. However, there are some inaccuracies in word choice and collocation, such as 'horrifying damage' (severe/devastating damage would be more natural) and 'affective' (the student meant 'effective'). The range is sufficient to convey meaning, but more precise and sophisticated lexical choices would be required for a higher band score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. While the meaning is generally clear, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly with articles (e.g., 'a recycle machine', 'the respective countries government'), prepositions, and sentence fragments. For example, 'The problem is lack of knowledge... is the main culprit' contains a redundant subject. While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher score. A greater focus on proofreading for subject-verb agreement and article usage would significantly improve the accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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